Vancouver CommunityNet Board
Minutes--June 17, 1997
Present: Penny Goldsmith, Larry Kuehn, Ryan Hung, Greg Sturk, Neil K. Guy.
The meeting was called to order by Penny Goldsmith at
1. Agenda.
It was agreed that the agenda be adopted.
2. Minutes.
It was agreed that the minutes of the May 20, 1997, meeting be adopted.
3. Staff report.
*The office will be open throughout the summer, with regular staff and/or
summer student staff.
*A volunteer party will be held on July 3, 1997, from 5 p.m. to about 9 p.m.
*Is was agreed that the VCN should have a job page with Web links,
including to HRDC.
4. Finances.
A projection for the next five months was prepared by Penny Goldsmith and
Margaret Coates. It indicates that expected income will be adequate to
maintain operations at current levels through the remainder of the fiscal
year.
Peter Royce is surveying community nets across the country on the rates
they pay for phone lines.
The VCN has been given a Sun IPC by the B.C. Teachers' Federation.
Systems design committee is looking at other hardware acquisition needs.
5. Grants.
*It was agreed that the VCN would enter into a partnership agreement with
the LMCIA for the project grant from the HRDC. The current phase of the
project has been extended to October 31, 1997.
*Initial contact has been made with the United Way and there will be
further meetings
*Work is ongoing on the research grant from the ITAO.
*A grant proposal is being put together for a Communities Connect grant.
The focus will be on access for people with disabilities.
*A proposal is being put together for an Industry Canada grant with a focus
on programs for youth.
6. Email and confidentiality.
*The president reported on a situations involved with security and
confidentiality and indicated that a policy should be adopted that informs
users about the fact that the VCN may be subject to legal warrants for
access to accounts. This will be brought to a future meeting.
7. Report on email survey.
More than 750 responses have come from the email survey of people who have
system accounts but haven't given financial support. There will be a
report at the next board meeting.
8. Povnet.
Povnet is a province-wide project to connect anti-poverty activists. They
are exploring a variety of options including the VCN. A report will be
made at a future meeting.
9. Workshop on directions for VCN.
A workshop in August was proposed to carry out discussion about future
directions for the VCN for interested board members and others with an
interest in VCN.
The meeting adjourned at 8:20.